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Number of global displaced up to 65.6 million a year ago

Turkey, for the third consecutive year, has hosted the largest number of Syrian refugees worldwide, as the number of people displaced from their homes across the world due to war and persecution climbed slightly to a record 65.6 million last year, according to a new United Nations report released yesterday.Among the refugees, asylum seekers – people who have fled their country and are seeking global protection – totaled 2.8 million by the end of 2016.But, with more than 65 million people forcibly displaced worldwide – representing a new post-Second World War record – wealthy countries need to do more to help, Beuze told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview from Ottawa.Syria’s six-year civil war remained the largest single cause of displacement, with 12 million people – around two-thirds of the population – either uprooted within the country or fleeing overseas, the group said.The conflict in Syria has produced the largest number of refugees at 5.5 million and displaced people overall at 12 million people.For the third consecutive year, Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees worldwide, with 2.9 million people. Uganda also reported the largest number of new refugee arrivals worldwide, with nearly half a million South Sudanese arriving in the second half of the year alone.The total figure includes 40.3 million people uprooted within the borders of their own countries, about 500,000 fewer than in 2015.Another 22.5 million people – half of them children – were registered as refugees previous year, the UNHCR report showed, pointing out that this is “the highest level ever recorded”.Grandi said there were outstanding examples in villages, towns and cities in countries on every continent where refugees had been welcomed.Unaccompanied or separated children – mainly Afghans and Syrians – lodged some 75,000 applications in 70 countries in 2016.One person became displaced every three seconds in 2016.In Africa, Uganda hosts the highest number of refugees, almost a million; followed by Ethiopia (791,631); DR Congo (451,956); and Kenya (451,099).UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi meets with trainee medical technician James Koat who fled to a camp in Bentiu three years ago after fighting broke out in his hometown in South Sudan’s Unity State. The war in Syria, now in its seventh year, has created a total of 5.5 million refugees as of 2016.Some 189,300 refugees were accepted for resettlement by 37 countries.However, the UN Commission for Refugees said sectarian violence and starvation in sub-Saharan Africa were also major factors, with South Sudan the third-largest source of refugees after Syria and Afghanistan. “For a world in conflict, what is needed is determination and courage, not fear”. The report says even this number is likely to underestimate the true figure.Germany, which hosted 700,000 refugees by the end of 2016, was the only developed country in the West that made the top 10 host countries for refugees.World Refugee Day marks the awareness on people to encourage and protect the refugees around the world.